Lili Wilkinson is a well-known, award-winning author who writes for all ages. This latest novel is an animal fantasy for young readers. It is the first in a series which follows Tithonia Proudleaf, known as Titch, and her best friend, Huckleberry, as they try to save Alluria.

Their safe home on The Plateau suddenly becomes the scene of an attack by curseworms on the visitor, Prince Vetiver, who had flown up to The Plateau on a hang glider. Titch thwarts the attack by grabbing the prince’s wooden staff, striking it against the ground and yelling ‘Be Gone!’ And with that, the curseworms vanish and Titch is told that she may be the next Bravepaw because she was able to wield the Heartstone.

With Prince Vetiver injured and needing to recover, it is up to Titch, with the puffling Dollop in her pocket, and Huckleberry to leave the safety of their homes to try to heal the crack in their world. Along the way they are captured by Grabbers but manage to free themselves and the caged eaglebear called Earna. By the end of the book they are about to set off to find the crack in the world.

Although the font size and spacing ensure that the book is for younger readers, the vocabulary does not talk down to them and the illustrations add visual detail. This is an exciting fantasy adventure which is a good introduction to this genre for primary-aged readers from about seven years old.

Reviewed by Lynne Babbage

Age Guide 7+

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

L M Wilkinson is the award-winning author of twenty books for children and teenagers, including A Hunger of Thorns, Deep is the Fen and How To Make A Pet Monster. She established the Inky Awards at the Centre for Youth Literature, State Library of Victoria. She has a PhD in Creative Writing, and lives in Melbourne with her husband, son, dog and three chickens.

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

Lavanya Naidu is a storyteller with a passion for building worlds and developing characters with heart. The twilight zone where they meet is where the magic happens! She is a graduate in animation film design and over the last decade has illustrated several children’s books, worked on games and animation production (television and film). When she isn’t drawing, Lavanya is collecting dinosaur models, embroidering, hiking, cooking and patting all the dogs. Lavanya grew up in Kolkata, India and now lives with her husband and their ever growing collection of plants in Melbourne.